The Price of Family
by Moonhera
Summary: The word 'family' means everything to Philip, Terui and even Akiko. So why does it only bring nightmares to Shotaro's dreams?
1. Chapter 1

It had been a simple mistake, but that is all it took to get this point in time, within a couple of seconds, although Shotaro had currently no idea what that mistake was. It was like fighting another Dopant, the way the silence was a heavy presence in the room. Shotaro stood at the front door to the office, one hand resting on the wooden doorframe, the other hanging by his side. He was looking out at the brick hallway, with Philip staring at his back, an unusual expression across his face. Well unusual in the fact that the expression on Philip's face was that of intense anger; aimed directly at Shotaro. Akiko's and Terui's faces were blank, the best way to conceal emotions, or in Akiko's case, a late reaction, as the flying slipper soon hit Shotaro in the back of head. The latter grabbed the back of his head and turned glaring at the girl, the room broke into action then.

"Shotaro!" Akiko almost screeched as she paced over to where the detective was standing looking down at her from his position on the steps and his height over her.

"That hurt!" Shotaro protested, all he had wanted to do was go out to meet Queen and Elizabeth, to gather some information on the newest case that someone had come to him this morning about. Akiko glared at him; if she had been taller at this point she would have looked quite fierce.

Akiko promptly ignored him as she usually did and almost pounced on Philip like she was trying to protect him from Shotaro. "Philip let's go" she said in a soft tone that was normally only reserved for her husband, Terui. Philip nodded, obviously deciding that a non-verbal response would do. Shotaro's bottom jaw almost fell off as the trio made their way past him through the door, pushed off the steps to the wooden floor by non-other than Philip, followed by Akiko holding her green slipper up like a weapon and Terui made up the end, closing the door gently like he normally did giving no indication that he had been affected by the previous conversation.

Shotaro was broken out of his silent and shocked trance by the stag phone battering into his head, indicating he had a call. He picked up the phone as it dropped to the floor, glancing at the time briefly, 11.35. He had been sitting on the floor for coming up to an hour! Flipping open the phone he placed against his ear, only in the next second he wished he hadn't. Akiko sounded more pleasant when shouting from the other side of the room than shouting directly in your ear and the phone only amplified her voice. Shotaro could have sworn the stag phone was also ganging up against him, but he didn't make any comment on that fact, more concerned about the fact he had missed the first couple of sentences because he had to tear the phone away from his ear which seemingly had contained the reason why everyone was so angry at him because he only managed to catch on part through Akiko's last few sentences, "and because you seem set on solving cases instead, we met a couple who wants to find their son, so I directed them back to the office. They should be there soon." The dial tone followed within a macro second, giving Shotaro no time to reply. With a long sigh, he pulled himself off the floor and rehung his hat on its hook on the door. Making his way back to his desk, he grabbed the dairy that belonged to Akiko which had been left open on the tall table. Sitting down at his desk he flicked to the day's date and blanched at the written contents. The words 'visit graves' stared out at him and mentally Shotaro kicked himself as he remembered that they had all agreed to visit the grave of Terui's family and the last places where the boss, Akiko's father, and Philip's family where last seen. No wonder they had been angry at him. A year since Philip returned to them, two years since he was returned to the earth along with the majority of his family and four since their first meeting on 'Begins Night' and the death of the Boss.

Thinking of family made Shotaro jump from his seat and slide a look at the cabinet containing the Boss' cases. It seemed family meant so much to everyone in the office, everyone but Shotaro. He found himself walking towards the cabinet. Terui's family had called out to him as the Weather memory killed them. Shotaro's hands were moving of their own accord, searching through the many files. Wakana had given her life up for Philip, and he had gained his family's blessing. Shotaro's hands were quivering as they pulled free some sheets from the plastic wallet. The Boss had prepared himself for a lifetime of hatred from Akiko, in order to protect her. Shotaro stared at a younger picture of himself, in his teens, smiling at the camera, pretending that everything was alright. The dust on the sheets indicated that they hadn't been touched in years. Making his way back to his desk, Shotaro placed the sheets on the surface. He was trembling; his whole body wouldn't stop shaking. It was like relieving the Terror memory attack all over again. Only this terror gave him nightmares and clutched at the very frame of his being. This fear had formed him, controlled him for the majority of his childhood. This was a case and a secret he couldn't tell anyone, a secret he even had to lock away from Philip.

A knock at the door freed him from the over stifling fear and gave him the air needed to pull himself back into action, if somewhat shaky. It was likely to be the couple Akiko mentioned earlier. As the door opened, Shotaro grabbed at his case file to keep from prying eyes.

"Welcome," he said, eyes still on the papers, sorting them out, as the couple walked through the door, leaving it open behind them. "I solve cases hard-..." Shotaro's voice came to an abrupt as the papers in his hands dropped to the floor, fear rising through him again.

"Hard-boiled style. Yes?" the woman asked as she lifted a familiar site from her pocket into the space where a metallic driver linked around her waist. "How very similar to your predecessor."


	2. Chapter 2

Papers fluttered across Philip's vision as he stared into the room, strips of the day's newspaper had presumably floated across the room covering the room with printed text and coloured pictures. The numerous hats which had been on the door to the garage had been completely disembowelled, expensive material drifted on the wind which came from the destroyed windows. The door itself looked secure, so whatever had happened in the room hadn't entered the room, which more or less belonged to Philip, or it hadn't been found in the attack. There were even holes in the floor. The armchairs on Philip's right had been overturned, crashed into the tables which in turn had been summersaulted into the wooden cabinets up against the first wall of the office. Things didn't look much better through the doors, even the bedding from the bed no longer existed in one form but in many pieces. There was a quiet gasp from Akiko, who stood behind his left shoulder, followed by a deadly silence.

It wasn't the destruction that Philip was concerned about though, as he marched into the room; followed quickly by Terui, who started by turning things upright again, beginning with the old red armchairs.

"Shotaro," the first word that had been spoken since seeing the mass destruction, more of a shocked reaction as Philip's mind started working again in speed. It was a strange reaction from the person with the planetary bookshelves in his head and thus shouldn't be shocked from the sight. He had seen it before, when fighting. But this was the first time that he was seeing it impacting somewhere very close to him. Memories flew back from the time the Utopia Memory removed every single one of his friends' faces, in order to cause him grief to create the Gaia Impact. "Shotaro!" Philip called again, desperation setting into his voice as he tried to find the familiar face of his partner. He lifted the desk from where it had been tipped violently on its side. He checked the bathroom; the door left of the bed, to see the taps had been ruined, water leaking. He brushed past Akiko, almost pushing her to the floor in his haste; noting briefly that she had been caught by Terui.

He halted by the front of the door of the garage as the image of the Boss' hat stared at him, every memory becoming clear into his head about what had happened at 10:45 that morning, over five hours ago. The hat had a part of the rim ripped off; the missing part was nowhere to be seen. Philip's left hand quivered as it hovered above it, almost afraid that if he touched it then it would break to pieces. In the end he dropped his left hand down to a clear part of the door and pushed it open, rushing in and down the steps and back up again to metal platforms; nothing had been touched. Glancing around, he spotted a figure on the sofa, well slouched like he had been thrown that way, head buried into the sofa, wounds noticeable from here and no signs of life. Rushing over to the other side, Philip lifted Shotaro up wrapping an arm around his partner and lifted him so he was lying on the sofa, relieved by the rhythmic, if slightly harsh, breathing that indicated his partner still lived.

"Shotaro," Philip breathed softly, wishing that the boy would wake, guilt coursing through him with flows of thoughts of what he could have done differently. Maybe forcing Shotaro to come, or leaving it until the case was done, or later in the day, anything, anything that would have meant Shotaro wasn't alone somewhere during those five hours.

Philip thought he heard some murmuring, someone talking to him, probably Akiko but all he could see was the bruises which swelled and the cuts along his partner's body. He was only slightly aware that the talking stopped for a while and started again. The white flannel that made its way into his view, cleaning the red wounds, cleansing the paths of blood that was down Shotaro's arms. Only then did Philip realise that Shotaro's clothes were ripped and quickly looked away, trying to push himself back into action.

"Philip-kun," Akiko tried in her soft voice, the one she used to comfort those who were hurt or even of young age. Philip recognized it. "Philip-kun, the wounds aren't as bad as they seem." Philip clenched at his book tightly. The mess in the office kept on coming back to him. A clatter against the metal grate caught Philip's attention and he zipped his head around to see the stag phone in pieces; shattered like it had been thrown at a rock. Looking up he saw that it had been held tightly in Shotaro's left hand. Presumably Shotaro had tried to call someone, either after the attack or during the attack, more likely the latter as the position had been found and had been crushed at some point. The white flannel stopped moving and Philip saw Akiko bend in front of him.

"Philip-kun, can you get a change of clothes for Shotaro?" she asked, almost like he was ready to break. Philip nodded his head, gathering the stag phone up. If he could repair it, then maybe it would give him some clues on what had gone on here.

As he made his way into the messy, destroyed office, which had Terui stood in the middle of the room on his phone, to whom, Philip had no clue. His mind was distracted by the things that didn't make sense, even though he tried to shake them clear. Grabbing a spare set of Shotaro's pyjamas, one of the few things that hadn't been destroyed, took Philip some time to think on the question pondering him. As he walked back to the garage, he deposited the stag phone on the side and handed the pyjama to Akiko, taking another glance at Shotaro's bruised and still quite bloodied body, although Akiko was doing well in cleaning them. Closing his eyes, Philip stretched out his arms. It was time to do a lookup.

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><p><strong>Next one may not come tomorrow. I am on holiday and being very naughty by typing this. I will try and update for tomorrow. I need to get this idea out of my head to finish my other 'Prince of Tennis' story XD<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

His voice throat felt flaky and dry. His head pounded with a throbbing pain, like his brain had been rattled from side to side violently. Reaching to his throat, Shotaro rubbed it gently before studying his surroundings. He guessed from the feel of the floor below he wasn't in the office nor in the garage. Pushing himself up; he slowly opened his eyes from a deep darkness to yet another long lasting darkness. Frowning Shotaro reached out with his left hand to see if there was something in front of him, only to grab at cold air. He then tried reaching behind him, feeling a solid wall. He pushed himself backwards, so his back was against the wall so nothing should be able to sneak up from that way. 'At least one of the four directions was now secure,' he thought almost depressingly. He knew he could easily call on Philip with the driver and get his partner to help him out but Shotaro decided to figure out what had happened before he launched his partner into a battle with no means of winning nor any knowledge.

Closing his eyes, Shotaro tried to remember how he managed to get there. He drew blanks; even the time in the office was fuzzy. A couple that had come in to try and find their son, but there was something off about the couple and it wasn't just the fact that they had the Sonozaki family drivers and were dopants. The way they talked, maybe the way they looked. Frustrated Shotaro made to ruffle his hair, to stop part way as it felt stiff under his hand. Like it had been gelled. Running his hand backwards, he also realised it had been combed back. It reminded him of an old man style sort of hair and he dearly hoped that this was not the case. He had been an old man once and really didn't want to be that way for a while.

It was then Shotaro decided it was time to call Philip. Things were obviously crazy and he could apologize for what happened today at the same time. At least it would save him from anymore of Akiko's green slippers. Reaching down to pull the double driver from the inside pocket of his waistcoat, he realised that it wasn't just his hair that had been messed with. He wasn't wearing his own clothes either because under his hand was a thin material, cotton, a long sleeved t-shirt, Shotaro managed to deduce. The trousers were a similar situation. All felt very flimsy and didn't help with the insistent cold breeze that found its way down where ever he was. He also felt very lonely without his hat. But back to more immediate concerns; although his missing hat was a deep concern.

The fact his clothes were missing, also meant that the memories and driver were gone as well. Whether they had been taken by the fuzzy people or simply dropped from their slots, or even not seen by the other people was a concern. Shotaro half hoped that they had been seen, and half hoped they had been dropped along with the rest of his clothing. Even his shoes had been discarded of, and not replaced by anything else it seemed, as he curled his feet up as close as he could. He wrapped his right hand around his feet to try and keep them somewhat warm from the cold, hard stone floor, and wrapped his left arm around himself to keep the rest of him somewhat warm. To be honest, he had never felt more exposed and uncomfortable than since childhood. Memories of a dark, small cupboard, with an even shorter door, betraying no light from the outside, a cold breeze whistling through, screaming from the outside, crashing of glass, shattering … they all flooded back to him.

A wet trickle, which rolled down the side of his cheek, brought Shotaro out of his sharp and unwelcome memories. Frowning he placed his right hand to the right temple; feel a slick moisture there. He brought his hand away to see if he could make out what it was but even with his eyes adjusting to the darkness, all he could see was the liquid. No details but he didn't really need to see the colour of the moisture to know what it was. It would explain the thumbing headache he had awoken with. Now he knew it was there, he could feel more of it sliding down his right cheek and even the dripping could be heard against the cold floor. Seeing his own blood didn't frighten Shotaro, it came with the job. However it was the not knowing what had been driven into his temple to make it bleed so frightened him. The unknowing of the darkness around him frightened him. The missing presence of the driver and memories frightened him. Not knowing why his captors changed his clothes and styled his hair frightened him. But all these things seemed minor for what frightened him the most was the knowledge that he couldn't just phone Philip and his partner would be there to save him or at least talk to him. Would his partner even listen after what he had forgotten about today? Or at least Shotaro thought it was today, he couldn't be sure. Lady Darkness gave nothing away when she covered you in her dark shroud.

Standing Shotaro felt his way up the wall with his left hand, feeling the stone work beneath his hand. It wasn't designed or weathered; which indicated an underground area. He found himself at a corner of sorts. It was oddly shaped, giving further evidence that this 'room' was underground and not designed. Slowly he found himself touching wood, rough, like it hadn't been sanded properly. There was no handle of what he could feel on that side as he felt his way around it. Looking at it, in the dimness of what he could see, there was a small key hole, metal. Shotaro bit his lip before slamming his right shoulder against the door, repeatedly, in hope either the door would buckle or someone would hear it. As he paused, to gain his breath back, he noticed a growing light. Inside he had a horrible feeling that he had just gained the attention of his captors and in fact beginning quiet would have been a good thing. Shaking his head Shotaro muttered to himself "hard-boiled, hard boiled." But at moment in time, he was feeling anything but hard boiled. "Philip, now would be a good time to appear," he whispered to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

However much he had tried, Philip couldn't find a reason why the Driver and Memories were missing nor could he find them. The Stag phone was in a horrible mess that it made Philip wonder if they would ever get anything out of its memory in answer to why the attack happened and by whom. Terui and Akiko had managed to straight the majority of the office within the last few days, with promises to get people in to repair the windows and the floor. A few pieces of furniture had to be thrown. Shotaro had awoken two or three times, in pain and unable to speak, taking sips of water, before falling back into unconsciousness. In a way that had given Philip some relief, not much, but enough to keep him going. The Planetary Bookshelves had given no information, as the keywords were either too vague or there wasn't enough of them and Philip had tried every combination possible.

He briefly looked at Shotaro, whom they hadn't moved from the sofa bed since he was found. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully; the wounds were closing and had scabbed over, now it was a case of waiting until he was awake more than 5 minutes to tell them what had happened. Philip found himself rubbing his eyes as he yawned loudly. It had been a while since he had last slept a decent night's sleep without being interrupted. Last night, after being threatened to be put to sleep by Akiko if he didn't go, he had a dream about his family. Wakana had talked about the 'Earth overflowing' and 'data being compressed', but the rest had been lost as Philip had been unable to get any closer to them.

Revived from his trance as he heard Shotaro mumbling softly, an indication that he was about to wake. Grabbing the flannel from the bowl which was on the right hand side of the sofa bed, he placed it on his partner's forehead, dabbing it clean.

"Shotaro," Philip said clearly as the man below the flannel began to toss slightly, trying to dislodge the cool pressure. As Shotaro's eyes began to open, Philip removed the flannel, not bothering to call for anyone else as Akiko and Terui were out at the present moment in time, Akiko was food shopping and Terui was working; partly on this case as well as others as he had informed them this morning, Jinno, and surprisingly Makura, had also agreed to help, which would be difficult because all the attackers had left behind was Shotaro, no fingerprints nor footprint to go on. Philip watched as Shotaro's eyes focused on him, for a moment it seemed like his eye colour flickered but Philip passed it off as a trick of the light, more concerned about the person that was awaking.

"Philip," came a croaky voice. Philip gave a sigh of relief being the first time that Shotaro had spoken and placed the glass of water, which had been besides the bowl, to his partner's lips, supporting Shotaro's back in a tilted position. He watched Shotaro take in the water eagerly and when the glass was empty Philip placed it down again, waiting for the other to do something. It took a few minutes.

"What happened Philip?" Shotaro asked closing his eyes. Philip frowned, bending forwards.

"Don't you remember Shotaro?" Shotaro shook his head, and Philip bit his lip before continuing. "The office was attacked Shotaro whilst we were out." Shotaro shot up at those words, eyes opening wide as he looked at Philip, alarm clearly registered across his face. It was closely followed by a wince of pain as the wounds protested against the sudden movement.

"What?" he asked as Philip pushed him back down to the sofa bed, readjusting the blanket. It gave Philip time to think. He had been hoping, well everyone had been hoping that when Shotaro had awoken they would be able to get an explanation out of him about what had happened and Terui would be able to deal with the culprits. They hadn't counted on amnesia, especially with Shotaro.

"What do you remember last Shotaro?" Philip asked, curious as to how far the amnesia went. He had read about amnesia and the different 'cures' and 'remedies' and also how serious it could be, in the Planetary Bookshelves. Shotaro placed his left hand to his forehead like he was going to answer but was distracted by the feel of the bandages underneath. He looked at Philip, looking horrified at his situation. Philip gave a sigh, "you were also attacked Shotaro. You were in the office at the time."

Shotaro frowned deeply and started to scratch his head fiercely, a long cease across his forehead appeared. 'The typical patterns of Shotaro's deep thinking,' Philip had noted his partner's facial expressions, and stored them in his memory, only weeks after coming to work together in the office. 'Deep thinking with no answers,' Philip concluded in his head. Shotaro shook his head.

"No. Nothing. All I can remember is solving that missing dog case, and then everything is a complete blank." Shotaro said looking at Philip again.

"That was last week Shotaro," Philip said alarmed and working out how much of his memory was missing. The last 3 days he had been asleep, so that left four days unaccounted for. Philip didn't know whether to take it as a blessing or a curse; a blessing because his partner didn't remember the argument on the day of the attack, a curse because the attackers could come back again and they wouldn't know to be ready for another attack. They could kill next time. Philip felt his hands tighten into fists. The amnesia made Philip more anxious to get the case solved, just so he could beat the attackers to a pulp; similar to the condition they had found Shotaro in. Come back to reality from the depths of his mind, he saw Shotaro trying again to bring up what was obviously missing memories.

"Shotaro," Philip said softly standing from the kneeling position he had been in. "Rest. Trust in your ability to heal." Philip walked over to the worktop place, grabbing the nearly repaired Stag phone before heading out of the garage. It would not do his partner any good to see Philip in a mad state. The lights switched off behind Philip as he closed the door.

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><p><strong>This is probably the last update for about 34 days, however I will make a chapter each day, so you should get a full update when I get internet back!**  
><strong>I also know this story has taken a confusing turn but its going to be solved. Its part of the mystery ...<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Shotaro had never known hanging around to be so exhausting; sure he had done it on cases, but it was always with a goal in mind. Waiting for a criminal or investigating a person. But when you were literary hanging around, with no goal or idea what was going on, it was easily the most exhausting thing he had ever done, and eternal sleep was seemed ever closer in Shotaro's mind. Chains with manacles wrapped around his wrists was his only support from not dropping feet first into a deep chasm, he had only taken one look down and had promptly looked up again, at the stone side that had become his companion and the translucent green data stream in front of him, the same green data that reminded him of Philip. The only difference in this data stream was the occasional long flashes of red. The red data, made from combing the 'Earth's data' as Philip would remind him and his own blood, which dripped from the back of both of his legs where they had been cut, long and deep. The pain had stopped a while ago, although he couldn't say whether it had been a day ago or a minute ago. He had lost all sense of time here. Overhead, at the top of this well-shaped chasm there was some kind machinery sucking the data away but pushing air in as well it seemed.

The cold trickle of blood down the back of his leg brought Shotaro out of his distraction from the minimal surroundings, not that it was much of a distraction. From below he heard the cold splash of what would probably be a pure red droplet hitting the data stream pool. At first it had been an unfamiliar sound, cold and shuddering to the bone, each time like an ice dagger stabbing the centre of your chest, the chill spreading like a flower in full bloom. However each time he heard the drop his lungs were grabbed by that icy flower and wrapped tightly in its cold embrace. Now he only felt the numbing after shock, as his head bobbed to the side, eyes dropping in the heavy pressure. Where was he? What were the people up there doing? He had a dreading answer that with the little sleep he had got, before being jerked awake from the cutting pain of the chains into his wrists, a nightmare of more memories, more powerful ones.

He hadn't seen the people in charge, well he had seen one but it had been so dark that he had been unable to see any distinguishing features of the man's face. Once again Shotaro found himself thinking back to the hazy memories of after being brought out of the stone cell. Two men in black masks had dragged him out of the cell and the dosed him with something, what it was he couldn't say, however it had rendered him docile in seconds. A doll almost; which they had then marched along to a large cave. Tall cavernous roofs with sharp satellites and stalagmites looked like they could break any moment, water dripped from the sharped knifed point to hit a pool at the bottom. Machines with slated covers, so any water would hit and roll away, lined the right hand side of the cave. In the middle a well which led down to this chasm, the mechanical cover half off, chains with small manacles at the end where attached to the cave floor. Shotaro hadn't known at the time that he was going to be attached to those chains and lowered over the face of the well, although he could have clearly guessed that he wasn't a highly prized guest but the drug had made not only the commands to his body hazy but his mind too.

An unmasked man with a masked woman had stood by the left cave wall, discussing something in hushed whispers. Then the man had left, taking the shadows of darkness, the cave was poorly lit on the left half, compared to the right which was lit by the lights of the machines and the well, which had standing flood lights around it. Shotaro hadn't even been unable to take a look as the man moved swiftly to the only opening in the cave, the one in which he had been marched through. Not that his head was taking any commands. It was then that they had cut into the back of his legs, or at least the woman did. The men only held him tightly in the upright position.

They didn't do it quickly or cut swiftly. It was long and hard, they had dragged. The pain had brought some movement back to his body but Shotaro still couldn't move completely. The woman had cut into the calf muscle deeply, and slowly dragged it down like she was handling a thick piece of material. Shotaro didn't scream; to scream you had to have the energy and the will to scream. His senses had been overloaded with pain. Unutterable extreme pain.

People have sometimes described death as wish to be granted in similar situations but Shotaro wasn't even sure death would stop the pain. She had started on his right leg, but on the left leg she stopped part way through. He remembered that bit clearly; even if he didn't remember the rest as well. The tearing of a more powerful pull, probably gripped by both hands, had nearly tumbled him into unconsciousness. It was clear he didn't need to have any drug to be as weak and as helpless as before.

His head had dropped, energy just poured out of his body, like it did the growing pool of blood surrounding his feet. Briefly he remembered the manacles being attached to his wrists, and him being lowered into the well. He remembered the green data turning the flaming blood red, with the closing of the flood lights as the cover went over. When that was, Shotaro didn't know. In that time only pain ruled over him.

Then the pain had disappeared. Now it was an indescribable thirst. His mouth was as dry as the stone walls and there had been brief periods of dizziness, followed by pain, then followed by the silence. Did they intend to let him die there? Shotaro only hoped that Philip would look for him but after that argument, he didn't have the mental capacity currently to think whether he would search for him or not. Then again it could have been a delusion or a nightmare but he couldn't remember whether you felt pain in either of those.

Light from above penetrated his vision, blinding him briefly. Yellow filtered through the green and red and a tug from above started pulling him up, out of the well. Shotaro wondered if they were going to kill him up there instead. It wasn't a gentle pull, harsh and it felt like his arms were being pulled of their sockets. Pulled out over the rim of the well, a tube was stuck in his mouth the moment he hit the ground. He found himself sucking water, the cool fresh water. People were arguing behind him but to listen to them he would have to stop drinking the water, and he didn't think he could do that.

However, eventually it was soon sucked dry and Shotaro found himself sucking air but even that was welcome. A different air from the one in the well. It was a pleasure he found himself longing for as the tube was removed. The manacles were still not removed from his wrists, he noted. A man in black stepped into his vision. Shotaro had gained a little strength from the water but he didn't think it enough to fight him; he couldn't even wager he would win against a mouse. He watched through half dropped eyes as the man placed his right hand on Shotaro's wrists and the left was stretched out of his vision. Shotaro soon knew where it had gone, as his head was pushed down to the ground harshly; his damp hair flopping down, covering his vision. Then the pain from his legs came again. A hot burning searing. It didn't seem to last as long this time; however time is a cruel player, Shotaro knew from experience.

Any strength he had gained from the water was depleted rapidly as he felt his breathing speed up and his eyes close on their own accord. This time the pain only came from his right leg. When the pain stopped moving, he felt himself being lifted back, into what he presumably thought was in the well. Shotaro was having problems opening his eyes. When he did manage to, his saw the same familiar green and red data flying past his eyes and the yellow light disappearing with a bang.

If this was a dream, he really wanted to wake up now.

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><p><strong>Okay, now I won't update for a few days. This is your update for tomorrow people, I finished it early. I was busy typing on my kindle trying to get this done so you lot could have it early. However, I'll try to update friday. Try being the main word. Bearing in mind, I am supposed to be doing pre-reading for the next university year, all several thousand books :( (reading boring history and english books or typing stories? I know which one I pefer)<br>**


	6. Chapter 6

Shotaro recovered very little of his memory in the last two days it seemed to Philip. Akiko had suggested taking him to a doctor if the amnesia carried on for much longer, a suggestion that had added encouragement from Terui. The current investigation had no positive leads apart from something Shotaro had regained this morning. Something that could possibly lead them to the attackers and Shotaro's missing Memories and Driver. He had told them this morning about a location and time he had regained, and the rest of the group were unable to place it within their conversations with Shotaro, leaving only one group of people it could have possibly been. The attackers themselves. Which was how Philip found himself staking out with Shotaro, Terui and Akiko, whom had insisted that she came along, just in case something went out of hand.

Philip glanced at the time on the newly repaired Stag Phone; 14:52. He had meant to look at the footage he had managed to recover this morning, although he expected it to be distorted and unclear in some places. It was a cliff side they were on, the sea was roaring loudly and it battered against the cliff face. Shotaro had remembered the name of this place and the time, 15:00. There had to be something important going on, something that involved the attack that was nearly a week old.

Sure enough, there was life soon enough. A man, with his face covered by a tilted black hat, long black trench coat that fluttered in the wind, his left hand held his hat on, whilst his right held a silver briefcase. Dressed smartly, he clearly didn't intend to want to draw any attention. He walked towards where the group were hidden behind tall outlying rocks. The man stopped as a ringtone echoed on the wind. 'The Entertainer,' Philip recognised. 'Not an uncommon ringtone, but from the height of volume he clearly didn't expect anyone else to be there; if he wasn't drawing attention from his clothing choice.' Philip caught himself in the middle of deucing the man's profile; something Shotaro would normally be doing so he could give keywords to him later. Thinking of Shotaro made him have a sidelong look towards his partner, and saw a pale face. He also noticed that Terui had noticed as well, making silent hand signals, ones that Philip followed intently. Asking whether it was the man whom had attacked Shotaro, if he remembered anything else. Shotaro only nodded his head and Philip glared at the man who was now on the phone, feeling the anger rising through him. This was the man that Philip wanted to see behind bars.

With the wind blowing them in the face, it allowed for the group to overhear a few of the man's words, and very clearly and distinctly Philip heard the words 'Memories' being mentioned and 'Driver' as well. This clearly seemed enough for Terui to take action as he stood from behind the rocky outcrop. Philip watched as he walked up to the man, a face that showed he was clearly not impressed with the man. The soft words that Terui spoke with the man, Philip didn't overhear. Terui had a gift of making sure what he wanted people to hear; only those people would hear it.

Whatever Terui said made the man jump into action. It was as horror as Philip watched the following events unfold before his eyes. The familiar metal driver that once belonged to his family was swiftly wrapped around the man's waist and a memory held in the man's hand which was inserted directly, without problem it seemed. They hadn't counted on the man being a Dopant. Philip scowled, first at the name of the memory, the Utopia Memory and the Gaia Driver, both would explain the extensive damage of the office. It was a puzzle; he seemingly would have to wait for later as Terui jumped into action. Knowing that there was no way Philip or Shotaro could transform, Terui called to them to run with Akiko. Things were really starting to get on Philip's nerves and he wasn't one to get easily angered. Determined to get the case, Philip kept a very close eye on it as they ran past; he wasn't planning to go far without getting the memories and driver back.

What happened next, Philip couldn't comprehend, couldn't process. It flashed in a blur. Shotaro at one point had been running in between him and Akiko, away from the fight taking place between Accel and Utopia. Next there was nothing there. No one.

Philip hadn't heard the noise of the rock, hadn't seen it move, hadn't seen it shoot towards Shotaro and hit him on the temple, hadn't seen him toppling over the edge of the cliff towards the rushing waters and the ragged rocks below, with their sharp points licking out for their next victim to spear. It was just; Shotaro was there in front of him barely less than a minute ago, and now. Now he had gone. It seemed like all had fallen silent on the cliff side, Philip couldn't hear the fighting anymore. He couldn't hear Akiko's screams as she tried searching, looking, screeching Shotaro's name. There was only the whistling of the wind whipping around him, and the space where Shotaro had been running.

He hadn't felt rage before, not in this quantity at least. Not when his family died, not when the previous owner of the Utopia memory had tried murdering his friends and the reminder of his family. Philip's hands clenched into fists as he launched back. He didn't care about the fact the man was at this stage much more powerful than him. He felt his feet turned towards the man, picking themselves up and setting again quickly. He was running. This man had killed, in front of his eyes. He had been waiting for them to appear. A trap. A trap to kill Shotaro. The man had deformed in front of Philip's eyes. Like he was waiting for Philip to strike him, to kill him.

Philip's fist hovered above the man's face, just above his nose. In his head he could hear Shotaro telling him to stop. A memory. A painful memory. Philip saw the man smirk, a smile with so many different meanings before disappearing like dust on the wind. The briefcase dropped to the floor, crashing open to reveal the missing Memories and Driver, like it was a teaser from the man. Slowly, Philip's body shivered as he sank to the ground. He didn't wail or cry out. He just knelt there, his genius of a mind unable to comprehend what he had just seen.

Things moved quickly around him. Philip remembered being moved from that place, Terui probably. He thought he heard Akiko crying. Time can play serious tricks on the mind. Philip found that out when he was being shaken back in the garage. Terui throwing commands at him. The Planetary Bookshelves? Shaking his head clear of the junk he glared at Terui.

"Why?" Philip questioned. "You saw what happened back there!" Philip's voice started to rise.

"I have a search," Terui replied, pushing the book into his hands. Philip just glared at it and chucked it away. It was Akiko who picked it up from where it had landed on the edge of the metal platform.

"Philip. Please," her tears had stopped flowing, her face was red though. She placed the book back into his hands. "Shotaro …." Akiko couldn't continue as she turned away. Philip frowned at the book, in the back of his head he could hear Shotaro asking him to do it, asking them to get along.

"Once, I'll do it once more Terui Ryuu. For Shotaro." Terui nodded. Philip closed his eyes, determined after this, he would give up. He wouldn't be able to do it anymore. All his strength had gone.

As the bookshelves flew past him, he gazed up at them, wishing there was some book to tell him how to revive the dead. Distantly he heard Terui's voice.

"The purpose of this search, a relationship." Philip watched with a sigh as the words appeared before him green, anything Terui wanted to do. One last time. "Keywords. Utopia." Philip felt his fists tighten again at the name. "Zone." Philip shook his head. As far as he remembered those two Memories or previous holders had never met. "Gene." Philip watched as the words flew off to try and bring it down to one book. Why was Terui listing off a random bunch of … the final word made Philip stumble. "Final keyword, Hidari Shotaro." Philip watched with wide eyes as the reminder of the books disappeared.

"Noth…nothing," Philip stumbled over his words. Confused and worried. What connection did Shotaro have with them, apart from defeating them all as Kamen Rider Double?

"Alright, remove Gene." Philip watched as a single book came back. It was a deep blood red, with long etched letters on the front. With a shaking hand he picked the book from its hovering space and returned from the bookshelves.

"The relationship. Family" Philip said looking up at Terui, wondering what the heck was going on.

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><p><strong>Awkward chapter to write. Anyway, I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter and won't go to bed until I've done it (someone needs to pull me away from super sentai as well!) I'll try to get two chapters out in one day to make up for the lack of one chapter. Can't promise anything though<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

His legs had ached, now they were numb. He couldn't feel them. He didn't want to feel them. Not with the knowledge of what had been done to them. He stopped feeling the aching a while ago. This was not a situation which a hard boiled detective should find himself in. 'No one should find themselves in this situation.' Shotaro thought to himself as was pulled out of the well shaped chasm. Water came more regularly now, but so did the cutting of his legs. If he dare look at the mess that was once his legs, he would find them scarred, the calves almost unrecognizable and the thighs becoming that way as well. That's why he daren't look. If he had the strength to, he would have laughed. He sounded so half boiled at that point.

Shotaro had clung to those words, as everything else faded. The boss' description of him, Akiko's description of him, Terui and even Philip after meeting Akiko and finding out that Shotaro was not 'fully boiled'. Shotaro swore he could hear their voices and had often looked up whilst stuck in the well, hoping, praying even, that they would be removing the machinery and pulling him out. It would only come with the harsh realization that he was having delusions. The hopes for it being a dream that he would soon wake up from hadn't lasted very long. His eyes often grew weary whilst in the well and he would sleep to worse nightmares. His dreams tortured him as much as every moment of staying in the well. Although he would never say it out loud, Shotaro had wished for death by this point. He felt like he was hanging in a void between life and death anyway.

Shotaro was pulled over the rim of the well and roughly let to drop to the hard stone ground. He didn't complain or speak or make even a noise. The men and woman in the black masks seemed to enjoy it more if he spoke and it was all he could do to curb at least some of their pleasure. He felt the tube pushed up to his mouth and like a child he took it quickly, almost like he was scared that if he took too long it would be removed and Shotaro wouldn't put it past them to do that. They seemed to have a certain amount of freewill as the person whom Shotaro had heard but not seen did not appear often. Or at least he didn't appear whilst he was out of the chasm.

The water felt cool and fresh to Shotaro, cooling the fire at the back of his throat which had rendered him unable to speak anyway. He had deduced that he had obtained some kind of infection, probably from the untreated wounds. It didn't help him feel any better though, it was just another thing to kill him. Shotaro's thoughts took a dark turn and he quickly stopped sucking on the water to stop himself from choking and regain any positive thoughts he had left.

As he started on the water again, he heard a bickering behind him, from the entrance of the cave. He didn't turn his head, as the masked man who had been kneeling in front of him stood, just carried on sucking the water.

"Do you really think you made that death believable? It all looked very fake to me," a female voice, high pitched, soft and gentle. It reminded Shotaro of someone, who obtained the same kind of voice but had actually been the complete opposite. Shuddering slightly Shotaro listened to the other voices.

"It was the best we could do. It wasn't like we could appear on the doorstep before hand and ask them to talk to the Gene Memory. We agreed before that was the way things needed to be done." Another familiar voice, male, deep and vibrated in the cavern walls, Shotaro stopped taking the little remaining water that was coming through.

The Gene Memory. A memory that could copy people from their DNA, appearance wise at least, personality was not one gifted to the Gene memory. Shotaro knew he had destroyed that Memory with Philip. Wincing Shotaro tried moving himself into a more comfortable position from where he had been placed, without causing too much notice but ended up just slumping back down to his previous position.

"Couldn't he have stayed there longer? Put them off? Caused lasting grief?" the female again.

"If I stay any longer then they would have realised or gained information that I was a Dopant. There was only so long I could last on the argument of amnesia. And trust me; they'll be going through enough grief anyway if they think Shotaro has died. They won't register the fact that there are more Dopants or memories going around." The third voice, male, made Shotaro pay further attention to the conversation.

His breathing started to pick up pace as he tried sorting the information. He gathered they were Philip, Akiko and Terui at the office. He slumped slightly in disappointment as he realised the truth of the statements given. Shotaro felt his hope slip totally out of his grasp now, even tears prickling the edge of his eyes. No wonder they hadn't found him, if they believed him to be dead.

"Well at least we don't have to worry about Police searching. They'll give their statements of what they saw and they'll believe the body will never be recovered. We can carry on making Memories and using Blood Data and no one will know." The female again, as she floated to the left of Shotaro's view, he noted as she was the body of the Zone Dopant, another one he and Philip had destroyed. Gene followed quickly after, rounded up by the Utopia Dopant. He watched as they reversed out of their Dopant forms, with their back to him and dropped the Gaia Drivers on a spare bench, one by one.

Shotaro averted his eyes to the dark stone ground below him, letting the tube fall to the floor. He closed them to try and keep back the prickling of tears. The noise of the tube dropping to the floor caught the attention of one of the trio, as he heard the pacing of the footsteps towards him. He waited for the abuse to start but it stopped just in front of him. A few seconds later and he felt his chin being grabbed harshly and pulled in a direction, which forced Shotaro to open his eyes. He only wished he hadn't as the owner of the female voice stared down at him.

"Shotaro," she said quite cheerfully, "you're going to be useful for once in your life. You can thank Narumi Sokichi for bringing you up in such a fine way for the last couple of years when you reach the afterlife." Shotaro tried to keep the fear from creeping into his eyes; this was a face he never wanted to see again. In his head he could hear screaming, the sound of breaking glass hitting the side of a table, hitting soft flesh. "But don't think you're going there soon. You still have to make up for being a useless child," her voice rose, reaching almost screeching level. Shotaro didn't hear himself hitting the ground when she tossed him harshly, he was unconscious from the moment she finished her last sentence. Everything had caught up with him and it wasn't even going to let him go in what should have been a blessed darkness.

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><p><strong>Okay, going to bed now. Its 2:36am and I need to wake up early tomorrow. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Things will be explained in the next chapter, however I can say this. There were two Shotaros.<br>**


	8. Chapter 8

Philip sat at the tall table, staring at the book in front of him trying to figure out the information that he had gained from it. Papers sat beside the book, a case file. He felt like he was intruding into Shotaro's life, but at the same time fear, hurt and sorrow. A hurt from Shotaro not telling him about his past, about the deep secret, although from the hurt came the fear that Shotaro's past could have possibly killed or be in the process of killing him. His family. Philip couldn't understand. How could a father or mother be so cruel? Philip picked up the case file, reading it once again. It was written by Narumi Sokichi, the boss.

_The case itself seemed simple enough, if a sad case. The Police asked me to investigate the death of a young teenager, 14 years old. Reports came back saying that the parents, the Hidaris, had claimed that he had fallen down the stairs after having an argument and had tripped on his younger brother's toys , whilst carrying a glass cup. Although it seemed the case was already cleared, it is customary practice to investigate a minor's death just in case. The dead minor's name was Hidari Ryunosuke. Mother's name: Hidari Sakura. Father's name: Hidari Takeru. Younger brother's name: Hidari Shotaro. _

_Upon talking to the neighbours, they claimed the family were very close in public and in the home. The children were very friendly with others, talkative and played a lot in the park, sometimes without their parents as young children. As they grew older the neighbours saw them playing with other children a lot. Mother worked in a nursery as a volunteer and father as a middle school teacher. All the family were well respected and were seen as a perfect family. No complaints anywhere to be found. _

_I was in the mist of writing a report when I was stopped by a woman, whom didn't wish to give her name. She told me of something she had heard upon passing the house, noises of crashing glass and children crying as well. The house itself isn't isolated but it is within a residential area of Fuuto so possess enough garden space for noises, like children playing inside, not to be heard by neighbours. A man also came along within the space of an hour of the woman leaving with information about Hidari Takeru. He reported of seeing the man in the local bar, drinking heavily most days and leaving late into the night. Only on weekends is he not seen drinking, which would fit with neighbours seeing him with his sons. _

_I investigated the reported bar, to check with the bar tender whom confirmed the man as a regular. It seemed unusual that the bar that Hidari Takeru goes to is so far away, it is even out of Fuuto itself and in the next biggest city, which is easily connectable by train. Returning to Fuuto, I decided to investigate the house itself, which I had not had opportunity to do as the Police had claimed to do a thorough search of the house. I was greeted by their youngest son, Hidari Shotaro. Aged nine, he acted a lot older and not like other children his age. It is rare to have children like that and to have two would be almost impossible. I was greeted by what can only be called an innocent smile with a deep hidden pain. _

_Shotaro took me to his and his elder brother's room. Small, but someone could claim the house itself is small but it was big enough for two children in the middle of childhood. Bunk bed, two desks, cupboards, dressers. Clean and tidy, no signs of playing. The stairs themselves have platforms on them, two platforms, and three sets of stairs. Designed with child safety in mind no doubt. When I asked Shotaro if he saw his brother fall he didn't reply. When I asked him about his father's drinking habits and the crying that went on, he didn't reply. I began to doubt the story given by the parents, whom were nowhere to be seen at that present moment in time. It was at that time that Shotaro asked me if I was going to punish him because he was unable to give an answer to my questions. _

_Up to that point I had never been on an investigation where there is child abuse going on, some would say I was lucky but luck has nothing to do with it. After asking the child if I could have a look at his back, he immediately backed away and started to clam up. I asked him various other questions, like was his mother and father hurting him? I even asked whether his mother or father pushed his brother down the stairs. I got nothing from him. I did however see the brief glimpse of numerous cuts and bruises along his right arm alone and the fact he tried to cover it with his own top. _

_It was then I returned the case over to the police and from them learned a lot more about the background of the Hidaris. The family had moved several times within the time period that Ryunosuke had been born to his death. There was another medical examination on the elder son's body, in which they found that all the bruises they had thought had been obtained from falling down the stairs and the cuts from the broken glass could not have been gained in that fashion. The murder scene took place on the stairs; however the cause was because an elder had pushed him.. It was now nearly two months after the death. The police moved quickly after this announcement and removed the youngest son, Shotaro, from the Hidari elders' grip. They were arrested, after there was an examination on him, and given a long jail sentence for murder and child abuse. _

_The thought sickened me that within the two months, that boy would have been abused many times over. I was reminded of Akiko, my own young daughter. It hurt to think of her being abused in anyway, not that she should. It also made me think what kind of person Shotaro would grow up to be. A person who possibly would only believe that children were there to be abused? Somewhere along the line I became personally involved in this case, not hard boiled at all. Yet there was something about that smile that made me think twice and it would not leave me. _

_Shotaro is currently in a foster home, unlikely to be fostered or even looked at by people. Potential parents would probably be discouraged by his age, his background, all the current counselling he was receiving for the years of abuse and the social workers themselves. I was told he doesn't talk much, and if he does never about his family or brother but I was also told that he carries a picture of his elder brother and himself around. I cannot take on a son; I can however take on an apprentice in a couple of years, when he is older. It is the best I can do to make up for the years it took for people to realise what was going on and I can only hope I can help him carry the burden of the loss of his brother. I can't visit him often in the foster home; I can't allow him to become attached in case there is someone out there who will treat him right. But when he gets to the right age, I can start repaying the debt owed to him._

_**End of Case**_

A mother and father who killed their son and abused Shotaro? Philip stared at the papers and the book again; both gave the exact same information. It was hard to believe that Shotaro was the boy in the file but there was the younger picture of him staring up at Philip. Sighing Philip looked at the desk, wishing he could redo that day when Shotaro was taken. It angered him inside to think that Shotaro had escaped the clutches of his parents by the Boss, only to be thrown back to them by him.

Philip felt his deep fear for Shotaro's life. His mother and father, now the dopants Zone and Utopia had killed before. There was no doubt they would kill again without mercy. He could only hope that Narumi Detective Agency would find Shotaro before he was lost forever.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the lack of update, tired at the moment and have friends over. I'll try to update sooner!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Now all seemed lost, hopeless. A nightmare which he had suppressed was coming true once again. He often heard their taunting voices echo around the chasm, hitting him from all sides, loud and booming. Shotaro remembered, with horror, his father's voice as he had asked the masked woman and men to carry on with what they were doing. The pain had never been so bad, and it wasn't just the pain from the cutting of his legs. He had hoped, just ever so slightly, hoped that after his parents had spent time in prison they would have changed. Closing his eyes, Shotaro remembered the scene that had started the fortune turn of events, which had resulted in him being placed in care. His brother's death had always played on his mind and although, as a self-defence mechanism, his mind had blocked out most of the severe memories of abuse from his parents, this was a scene he could remember in detail. He could replay it second to second in his head.

_His parents had been arguing with Ryunosuke, well more shouting at him. Shotaro remembered he had been the cause of the argument. Ryunosuke had hidden him in the cupboard and told him not to come out until he gave the all clear. They had both heard their parents coming in drunk, which was unusual as it was during the middle of the day and it was both of them, not just their father. Ryunosuke had stood at the top of the stairs as they had made their way up. Shotaro had watched through the keyhole. Their mother had held a glass bottle in her left hand, their father stood on her left. _

_They had asked where Shotaro was, called out to him in that sloppy, sweet and sickly manner which only came out when someone was drunk. They had asked Ryunosuke, who had refused to answer. They had been taught never to lie to their parents by their mother, but Ryunosuke and Shotaro knew when to answer their parents and when not too. Shotaro had watched with a trembling bottom lip, unable to disobey his brother's words, as his mother raised the glass bottle time and time again, hitting Ryunosuke, an uncontrollable anger. His father had yelled and kicked out at Ryunosuke. It was only when it seemingly was calming down that it happened. _

_Their parents had somehow made it around Ryunosuke, pushing him back whilst they were beating him, enabling them a path to any of the rooms and, Shotaro could only guess this, Ryunosuke had realised it enabled them to have a straight clear path to the cupboard where Shotaro was hiding. Shotaro had watched as Ryunosuke had grabbed on to both of their backs, trying to stop them and with a force, which had seemed out of this world to a nine year old, his parents had pushed back at Ryunosuke, his mother letting go the remainder of the bottle at the same time. It was the last time Shotaro saw Ryunosuke's face. The remembrance of horror, fear and disgust burned its way into Shotaro's mind. What Ryunosuke feared remained a mystery to Shotaro, how many times he tried to solve in the time afterwards but his own conclusion to it was that Ryunosuke feared the impending death and at nine years old Shotaro guessed that combined with the disgust; it was the disgust of dying for his little brother. The social workers had told him that was wrong, that Ryunosuke wouldn't have felt like that but Shotaro could only think that way. _

_His parents then had tumbled away into their bedroom, past the cupboard and presumably collapsed on the bed. Shotaro had waited for his brother to appear, to give him the signal to come out, that it was all clear. He had waited for the smile that was only given to him in his family, for that familiar face. It never came. Shotaro had in the end wandered out after what felt like several hours of waiting, to see the blood stains on the carpet, his brother sprawled out on the floor. His face had been smashed by the glass, making it unrecognizable. Shotaro remembered trying to wake his brother from his sleep, unsuccessfully, calling his name. His parents had appeared later, with no clue about what had happened. The drinking had caused short term memory loss it had seemed, although now Shotaro knew better. _

They had told him, so many years in the future, that they had remembered every detail. His father had recited it in glee. Deep in the chasm, Shotaro hit the wall behind with clenched fists as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard with the lack of blood. It was all flowing to his legs and out through the cuts. Closing his eyes Shotaro tried hard to image a blackness, something that would take him to sleep and keep his mind off the image of horror on Ryunosuke's face as he fell. Everything else about his memories had gone, he couldn't remember a time before he was in the chasm, apart from the abuse of his childhood. People's voices had faded away, names had disappeared, faces dissolved. Only the chasm, the people above, and those memories remained in Shotaro's mind

It wasn't Ryunosuke's face he saw though when he closed his eyes. In the depths of his mind he saw a tall boy standing there, equally as confused as he was. Hair pinned back by clips, he looked about the same height as Shotaro. For a moment a name came to Shotaro's tongue but he was unable to say it.

"Shotaro?" the other boy asked, his voice was familiar, "Shotaro!" The other started to run towards him only to be stopped by a green data barrier. Shotaro stood there as the blackness they were stood in turned to pure green data. Confused he looked at it. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen just pure earth data without the red. Shotaro started to walk towards the other boy.

"You," he whispered, he felt a pulse, something that was so familiar to him.

"Shotaro!" It was that look of horror again, the same one that had appeared on Ryunosuke's face that made Shotaro remember the name of the other boy calling him.

"Philip," he said stretching out his hand to try and push through the data barrier. "Philip." He repeated.

A jerk from the chains that held him suspended pulled Shotaro back into the captivity and away from Philip. As he was none too gently pulled up, Shotaro puzzled over the name he had said and why, when he said it, did it give him so much hope?

"Philip."

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><p><strong>Okay last update for a couple of days, going to my gran's, who has no internet access so I'm probably going to be bored stiff ... joy and my gran isn't the most entertaining of people either. <strong>

**Review please? Maybe?**


	10. Chapter 10

Philip had been working non-stop now. Ever since he awoke from the dream that night, after Akiko had forced him to sleep. It was like that time with Wakana but different. Shotaro had stood before him, had noticed him as Philip had called out his name. He had acted unlike Shotaro, more like a child, lost and confused. He had seen the thinness of Shotaro's body, a stick like figure of what he had been. He was dressed in things very similar to what Philip had been wearing when he had first met Shotaro, a white t-shirt and white trousers. Expect the trousers were a deep red colour, and even in the area surrounded by Earth's data Philip could see blood dripping and hitting the data, turning it red, even if Shotaro wasn't seeing it. The t-shirt just flapped around Shotaro, giving indications away on how thin the boy was. Philip had seen the hollowness of Shotaro's face, the bone structure of his face had never been more clear. To be honest, a word that could have described the look of Shotaro's condition was a horrifying mess.

He had called out to Shotaro several times, tried running up to the boy, only to be stopped part way. It was probably unlikely that they would have been able to touch each other anyway, as Shotaro wasn't supposed to be in this place. His partner had started coming over and was just reaching over when he disappeared and Philip had awoken to Akiko shaking him awake. She had been concerned by the fact he had been making noises whilst asleep on the table. He had started working after that. Hard.

Philip knew now that Shotaro was alive, but it didn't look like he was being treated very well nor he would survive for much longer. This was enough to get Philip working non-stop, searching through the Planetary Bookshelves for an answer and using what he could to determine a location. It had all taken a different path however when Terui arrived and revealed that there had been a rise in the number of Memories and there were whispers on the streets of ultimate Memories, ones which cost huge amounts to obtain but had 10 times the power but nothing like that had been seen by Terui who was now working to stop the dopants in place of Shotaro.

When they had met the man upon the cliff, the man had actually brought the Driver and Memories. It was probably a way to ensure maximum grief, if they had happened to believe in that the person whom had been thrown off the cliff was actually Shotaro. Philip bit his lip in anger, the thoughts of being driven around with no control over his own feelings had annoyed him greatly and he was going to make those people that had hurt Shotaro in their initial attack, played with their feelings, destroyed Shotaro's childhood and seemingly was killing Shotaro right now, they were pay. Philip was going to destroy them.

It was the haunting eyes that disturbed Philip the most, what Philip had seen in Shotaro's eyes was not the half-boiled detective but a child. A child who was lost and scared and needing some guidance out what ever dark place he had landed in. Philip didn't recognize the child who had inhabited Shotaro's mind at the moment but he was determined to bring Shotaro back from that state. Hopefully before any permanent damage could occur; mentally or physically.

Philip looked at the papers before him, showing the pattern of where the new Memory uses had been found. He had done research into the period in which they wanted the Memories and where they had achieved their sales from. This enabled him to distinguish any Memories that happened to be from the time his own family had been producing them. Philip looked over at Terui, who looked exhausted and had Akiko fussing over him.

"Any luck Philip?" Terui asked, going to rise from the red armchair, only to be pushed down again by a protective Akiko who went to make some tea. Philip shook his head, grimly. He had told them this morning about how he knew Shotaro was alive and even the Planetary Bookshelves confirmed it.

"Nothing. I have a partnership between the Memories Utopia, Zone and Gene, which involves Shotaro. I have an area where the new Memories are being sold. There is a rumour about these red Memories which we haven't seen yet. The Stag Phone is repaired but any information taken from the attack has been lost. Nothing is linking together." Philip shuffled through the papers as he talked, looking at the respective papers in turn. Terui frowned deeply.

"Maybe," Akiko started before stopping. Philip looked up at Akiko, who shook her head quickly returning to making the teas. Philip slumped against the back of the chair, biting his lip.

A gust of wind blew through the open window, which had been recently repaired from the attack and blew the papers off the desk, scattering them randomly across the floor. Philip and Terui jumped up and grabbed the papers before they could scatter more. One landed by Akiko's foot. Blinking at it, Akiko bent down and picked it up. It was the map indicating the area of where the Memories were being sold. Tracing a random road, she traced it back to the grassland that had once held the Sonozaki family mansion.

"Philip-kun," she started. Philip paused in his paper gathering to look at the girl again. "What happened to the Earth's data stream underneath the mansion?" Philip frowned, gathering the last piece of paper from Akiko's hands looking at it. Terui looked over their shoulders.

"Its entrance was crushed by the mansion and I presume it disappeared when I returned to the Earth. I was linked into that data stream." Philip said looking at Akiko again, wondering what the girl was thinking.

"How did your father find it?"

"The Earth must have called Father to it but he also said he stumbled across it by chance. At the time I was there I could feel several other pulls but it was most certainly the strongest."

"So is there a chance, that there could be other Earth data Streams? Not as strong but other data streams none the less?" Akiko said finally looking away at the map and she saw the quick look of thoughtfulness, followed by a sort of sad joy.

"Aki-chan. You may be a genius," grabbing the map off Akiko and making his way back to the table. "Father didn't just purchase the land on which the mansion stood and the data stream; he owned a large amount around that area as well. He must have thought to keep himself safe and in a business proposition that he would buy the large area encase there were other data streams worth exploring." Philip laid the map on the table and started running a pencil, which he picked up from the table, between the different red dots indicating where the Memories had been bought. "He was excavating a large area expanding far out underneath the land he owned itself. The result of the mansion going could have created a shockwave, opening up new tunnels and closing others. One of those tunnels could have led to a new data stream." Philip started drawing lines in the land of the Sonozaki grounds before circling a small area. "That's where the data stream is." Philip trailed off slowly.  
>"And that's where Hidari is," Terui said firmly. Philip nodded, he could only hope that Shotaro would be there, the image he saw in his dream coming back to him. They wouldn't reach Shotaro in time if they were wrong. They had to be right.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Shotaro was propped up by the edge of the well, drinking the water slowly, and half listening to the conversation around him. To take meaning from what the three leaders were saying would cost energy he was trying to preserve. It seemed however that his mother and father were having an argument with the third member of the partnership, the one who had the Gene Memory.  
>"We need to produce more, they are demanding for more. We could get more money," Shotaro watched his mother, Sakura, through a fuzzy vision, speaking as she threw her hands up in the air expressing her annoyance at something. If he remembered it correctly she had the Zone Memory.<p>

"The value would go down," Gene replied calmly.

"Then we increase the supply slightly, just one more every day. We could keep a stock in case something happens," Shotaro's father, Takeru, replied. Shotaro briefly realised he didn't know the name of the person in charge of the Gene Memory.

"How do you propose we increase the number of Red Earth Data without killing our only source?" Gene said, waving his hand at Shotaro.

"I know! I know! The data stream only reacts to his blood and when it hits the data stream it reacts in a different way to someone who has only been a dopant or has never been a dopant. We were the ones to sell you that information and get you the source of the blood," Sakura said crossing her arms.

Shotaro looked at his legs briefly for the first time in what felt like years. From his hazy vision he could see the scars littering the front of his legs, where they had barely cut. He swallowed some water as he tried to keep from thinking what the back of his legs looked like with clear vision.

"I think what my wife is trying to say is, that we got you the information, and then we proceeded to make our three Memories from the scraps of what was left of the previous holdings of Memories from the Police Station. Then we got that thing for you," Takeru waved his hand Shotaro, not bothering to look at him, "even though he put up a good fight. Then we made a back story so you wouldn't have that thing's partner coming after you because he would believe he was dead. We then proceeded to give you the most excellent price for him. Remember we only sold him for only 10,000 yen and 60 per cent of the profits made from the Memory selling business. We also pay the sellers to go out and sell them. You only have to sit back and watch the proceedings going on. I think what my wife wants is maybe to see our profits rise a little more and maybe to spread more information about the new business."

"Well. Maybe I could …" the voices trailed off as the trio moved to the far back of the cave.

Shotaro mentally blanched, even in his hazy state it had registered that he had been sold like slave. 10,000 yen was nothing really. Mentally Shotaro could hear Philip converting that into different currencies, about $130 or £80. It only seemed to add to the hopelessness of his situation. Although Philip's appearance in his dream had caused some conflict, half of him wanted to take it as hope, the other half took it as an indication that death was looming above him and would grab him soon. He only could pray the decision would be quick, before the emptiness that he felt from where his legs were would sallow him whole. They could probably be chopped off and he wouldn't feel a thing. Briefly Shotaro wondered where the hard-boiled detective he had once claimed to be had gone, only his mind had an answer, down into Earth's data, along with his blood.

A noisy commotion overrode the talking in the back of the cave between Sakura, Takeru and the holder of the Gene Memory. Shotaro turned his head to look at the entrance to the cave; the water he had been drinking had long since gone now, although he craved more. The two men in black masks walked towards the entrance, disappearing into the darkness. Time seemed to slow for a few moments as the noise quietened. It then flew back into action as the two men who had disappeared flew over Shotaro's head, hitting the machinery at the back much to the masked woman's dismay as she started having a go at them, much to Shotaro's amusement. It reminded him … who did it remind him of?

"Shotaro!" A shrill voice filled the cavern. Slowly Shotaro nodded slightly to himself as he started to look back at the entrance. That's who it reminded him of. Akiko.

It took Shotaro a second or two to register who stood at the mouth of the cave and his brain to click into gear. A figure in Red was the clearest, not that he could make out much details about the person but a name came to mind straight away. Terui Ryuu or Accel as he was at the moment. Shotaro heard the activation of the Memories behind him, Utopia, Zone and Gene. Accel rushed out of sight, presumably to battle the trio. Shotaro's attention was however on someone else.

"Shotaro!" Akiko had grabbed him in a tight hug, but Shotaro's eyes were on Philip as he knelt down beside him, looking at the chains and then presumably the damage to his legs. Shotaro didn't know as he had become involved with trying to push away from Akiko, unsuccessfully. She did let go though.  
>"Shotaro," Philip started.<br>"Glad you could make it in time," Shotaro said with a smile and a deep cough which nearly threw backwards and back into the chasm, had it not been for Philip putting a steady hand on Shotaro's back, which quickly moved round to Shotaro resting against Philip's right shoulder. Shotaro felt the push of something into his hand and looking at it he saw it was the Driver, which the Joker Memory. Fang was prancing around Philip.

"Shotaro, do you have the courage to ride with the devil?" Philip asked softly, despite Akiko's pleas for Shotaro not to transform at this current moment in time. "I don't plan to let Accel have the battle to himself. Not after what they've done." Shotaro gave a small smile as he placed the familiar driver to his waist; the feel of the belt forming gave him hope again.

"Just don't spend too long," Shotaro warned as he pushed the Joker Memory in, watching as Fang jumped into Philip's hand and was formed into its Memory. Shotaro had never felt so much hope flowing into him. That was his last conscious thought as he collapsed against Philip's body as it transformed.

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><p><strong>Gomen nasai, this might not be the world's best chapter. I'm currently in pain and it's only getting worse but its in a difficult place and I don't want to go to the doctor because it will be an awkward appotiment (although I may have to anyway. I'm hoping the pain goes away).<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

Philip sat on the chair, staring at Shotaro. He was asleep at the current moment. Yet earlier he had caused quite a scare. Philip should have known something wasn't right the moment he had become FangJoker, but he had dismissed it as Shotaro having trouble keeping up due to the stress of the last week and a half kept in captivity. He hadn't realised that he was fighting with a half unconscious partner at that point, exaggerating the mental wounds that Shotaro had obtained. Shotaro had been able to fight somewhat with Philip and thoroughly thrashed the three Dopants with help from Accel. Utopia had gone first, followed by Gene and then Zone; it seemed that by remaking the Memories from scraps had made it weaker. However when it had come to the time for Shotaro to move back into his own body, he hadn't woken up much to everyone's alarm.

Clenching the book in his hand tightly, Philip looked at the clock again on the wall. 2:30 in the afternoon. Three days after finding Shotaro and getting him to a hospital and the doctors weren't still totally sure about his condition, wary in the fact that everyone had been informed that Shotaro's health could tip back into decline. It had come of great relief when he had awoken on the 2nd day in the hospital but it hadn't lasted long, a couple of minutes had exhausted Philip's partner and it had reminded them of the delicacy of his health. Anyone who didn't know about Shotaro's condition wouldn't be able to see the damage done apart from the shallowness of his face. Philip viewed the figure in front of him.

The blanket was covered up to the top of Shotaro's chest, covering the damage underneath. His face was shallow and pale, there had been an oxygen mask the day before but it had been removed when Shotaro had awoken. An IV line was attached to his left arm, supplying much needed hydration. Blood had been pumped into Shotaro's body, which had explained the lack on of consciousness when he was supposed to go back to his own body. Philip had seen the long wounds along Shotaro's legs, some of them were scabbed over, others were crusting at the edge. There were the few that had been still bleeding by the time Philip, Akiko and Terui had got Shotaro to the hospital. Philip had watched as Akiko had rubbed herself red raw, removing the blood whilst tears of some deep emotions had flowed out, down her face and into the sink. Terui had disappeared to deal with the criminal trio at the police station. Evidence was stacked against them and it was obvious they weren't going to get away with a 'not guilty plea'.

At first the biggest worry was that Shotaro wouldn't wake up, that there had been too much blood loss or the stress had been too much on his heart. It had been a tense two days, Philip had searched through every possible archive to see if there was anything that would help Shotaro and had come up with nothing more than the Doctors and Nurses at the hospital were doing at that moment. The worries had changed when Shotaro had awoken. Now it was about his legs, a curious factor as to whether he would be able to walk or be temporarily disabled due to lack of strength. The news didn't come as a surprise, somewhere inside of him Philip knew only a miracle would get Shotaro out of this without any mental or physical wounds. The thought of Shotaro, however, the 'hard-boiled' detective in a wheelchair had seemed somewhat amusing for a brief few seconds, before the seriousness kicked in thanks to Akiko. She had fretted over some details about the office and disappeared for one or two hours muttering something to herself

Jinno had been the only one to act normal in this situation, at least at first. He had come in, complete with back scratcher, and started talking to the sleeping Shotaro like he had been awake. Makura had also followed in behind the senior detective, quiet and sincere, very unlike Makura. Terui and Akiko happened to be in the room at the same time. It was only when Jinno had run out of things to Shotaro did the elder man suddenly change to quite a serious sombre mood. The words which had been spoken haunted in Philip's mind, as he recalled the conversation from the day before.

"I was part of the police force that had looked at Shotaro's brother's death. It was quite early on in my policing career and I had only just been told that I would be moving up to the detective department when we got the case through." Jinno gave a long sigh leaning back in the chair he was sitting in. "Shotaro was a cute little boy; you wouldn't have though anything was going on with the way he smiled and talked to you. Even during the time afterwards, never about his family but he always smiled. I was the one who my boss to have Narumi on the case. I didn't think he would find such a horrible background."

"So, that's why the Boss got involved with the case and not a senior official detective," Philip mused, more to himself than anyone else. Jinno nodded.  
>"Narumi asked me to look after Shotaro when he was in the social workers' care. Give him reports back on Shotaro's wellbeing," Philip watched with wide open eyes as he saw Jinno's right hand clench into a fist. "I thought that those people, those monsters would change when they were locked away and couldn't do those horrible things anymore. At the appeal, I was told that everyone thought they had changed. I thought Shotaro was safe with the knowledge his parents didn't know where he was and he was a grown man now, so they wouldn't go after him anyway."<br>"This time they aren't going to get a chance to appeal," Terui added from his corner of the hospital room. That had ended the conversation.

Last night, as Philip had returned to the office, after visiting hours had ended, he had noticed on the table the papers of Hidari Ryunosuke's death and investigation. That had inspired his current task. He had kept it secret apart from Jinno, whom he had consulted before the detective had left the hospital. Philip wanted to find something that he wasn't sure even existed, from what he gathered the type of parents Hidari Takeru and Sakura were they weren't the type to splash money on their children. Hopefully Shotaro would be alive to see it.

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><p><strong>Gomen, I'm not very good at writing fighting scenes so I left the one were Philip and Terui pounded Zone, Gene and Utopia into the ground for your imagination. <strong>

**I think I have one more chapter left. I think, I'll see how it goes. It maybe two but this story is almost coming to end. I may end up doing a fan fic for 'Tyoko Ghost Trip' which also has Kiriyama Renn in it (the guy is cute, leave me alone). It's a good drama so I encourage people to watch it and it's full subbed on dramacrazy. XD  
><strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Shotaro watched from his bed in the corner of the office as Philip and Akiko made themselves busy. Philip probably researching something he really shouldn't and Akiko, just being Akiko. She would throw worried glances over at Shotaro, trying to conceal with a smile but it only served it to show Akiko's inner emotions. Philip was better at concealing his worry, Shotaro mused, looking over at his partner. Leaning back against the wooden panels, he clenched at the yellow striped blanket with his left hand, which covered his legs. A black wheelchair stood by his right, a blue and brown chequered blanket sat fold neatly on it. In his right hand was a singular picture of a smiling little boy who was being hugged by an elder boy, sat in a park somewhere. Neither boy was in double figures in age at the moment the picture was taken.

If someone were to study the picture in depth, they would see the slight tightness at which the elder boy held the younger boy, both arms clasped together, locked around his chest. The older boy's head was resting on the younger boy's right shoulder, adding to the protective gesture. The younger boy was lent back into the elder boy, clasping at the arms surrounding him. They weren't looking totally at the camera, looking just behind it, beyond the person taking it. Shotaro knew what both boys were keeping a lookout for in the picture, their parents.

Shotaro hadn't taken out the picture of his brother and himself for years, for fear of someone making a link between him and the younger boy and investigating further. He hadn't talked about his brother because with all the memories of love he had received from him, there had been the pain of his death and the abuse from his parents. That was the only reason why he hadn't spoken anything about it when Philip was experiencing the trouble with his family, when Akiko had demanded to see her father and when she had found out when he was dead. The only reason why he hadn't been able to share his thoughts with Terui when the police officer had found the person whom had killed his family.

He had aimed to bury all those thoughts, bury those memories in a quest to become a hard-boiled detective; in the hope someday he would be able to tell people and not have to worry about their reactions. But that hope had started to fade the moment that his parents had stepped into the office and activated their Memories. The last of his shields had gone earlier today, when Philip and Akiko had taken him somewhere when he had been released from the hospital, 7 hours ago.

**KRW**

It had been late morning and Shotaro had finally been given consent to be allowed to leave the hospital by the doctors, with follow-up appointments with his local doctor coming out to see him in the office. He had been in hospital for nearly 6 days at that point, but he was back on a stable diet, his blood levels were back up to normal and he was no longer dehydrated. He was, however, stuck in a wheelchair until further notice. The doctors were concerned about if any of the numerous wounds would reopen if he placed any pressure on his legs, as some still hadn't healed over.

Akiko had ordered a taxi, Shotaro had a feeling he wouldn't see his and Philip's motorbike for a while. Throughout the journey he had remained quiet, which in turn had led the whole taxi to be quiet. He suspected they wanted him to say something, talk about what happened whilst he was in captivity. So he was distracted, which had kept him from looking out of the window and rather at the floor. Which is why he was confused when they stopped at a graveyard.

When Shotaro had finally got himself into the wheelchair, Philip had almost hesitantly pushed him through the graveyard. Akiko had gone into a flower shop opposite the graveyard. Philip had taken him to the far end, past many graves until he had come to a shaded area covered by large trees and quite far from the entrance. There weren't many graves around here and there were only one or two large ones, the rest being small indicating they weren't family graves. Philip stopped Shotaro's wheelchair in front of a small black coloured gravestone. In height it only came up half way up Philip's calf. It was fairly well cleared. Upon it was a metal inscription plate. As Philip moved to the side, Shotaro read it, gaining an idea all the while.

_A Loyal Heart, a Wonderful Friend, a Loving Brother.  
>Hidari Ryunosuke<br>Aged 14  
>A Tiny Flower Lent Not Given<br>To Bud On Earth and Bloom In Heaven_

Shotaro had bitten his bottom lip as it trembled as he read the name, trying to keep the tears back. He felt his heart pound with so many different emotions. The sorrow and sadness that the grave confirmed his brother really did not rest there. The sweet tender happiness that someone did care for them as children, even to go and place a small grave for his brother.

"It says it's donated by a Hayashi Haruka-san," Philip said from where he was looking at the side of the gravestone, where the person who had paid for the grave would be inscribed. Shotaro had blinked a few times, trying to remember who she was.

"The neighbour… on the left. She had four children of her own and …" Shotaro trailed off slightly as he felt his voice quiver, "and Aniki, Ryunosuke, and I used to look after them sometime when their parents went off to the theatre. Aniki used to hide the money they gave us, and when we were alone for a long time, he would go and buy us something from the shop on the corner. We never had sweets or chocolate otherwise." Shotaro looked away to his right as he felt the tears rolling down his face.

Unfortunately for him Akiko had been coming that way with a bunch of white flowers and she noticed the tears rolling down his face, and the desperation Shotaro was showing to try and keep himself composed as much as possible. Gently she knelt down beside him placing her left hand on his right shoulder.

"Shotaro-kun?" she asked softly, presumably unsure of what comfort to give. Shotaro felt the hand of Philip on his other shoulder and quickly looked up at his partner.

"E**v**en a hard-boiled detective cries at a death," was all Philip said looking at the grave. Shotaro nodded, almost losing his composure completely at that point had it not been for Akiko.  
>"Shotaro-kun?" She asked again, indicating to the flowers in her hands. "Do you want me to put down for you?" Shotaro nodded, giving a brief smile amidst the tears. After that Shotaro remembered closing his eyes and giving a prayer, before the tears really overflowed. Philip and Akiko had wandered off slightly, not out of sight in case something happened but far enough away to give Shotaro privacy. In the end, Shotaro didn't know how long he had spent staring at the grave in front of him.<p>

**KRW**

The initial shock of finding a grave for Ryunosuke had worn off and eventually the tears had stopped coming but that wasn't until Philip and Akiko had taken him back to the office. Akiko had written a small note for Shotaro upon where the graveyard was with Ryunosuke's grave, which he had been grateful for. Now sat watching Philip and Akiko, Shotaro could bare a small smile. Had it not been for Ryunosuke on that day, it would have been Shotaro's name on the inscription plate. If there had been a grave at all.

Shotaro looked down at the only photo of his brother and himself, he had removed it from its hiding place the moment he had got back. _'Aniki'_ Shotaro thought to himself. He had so many things he wanted to say to his older brother, thank him for all the wonderful times Ryunosuke had shown him in what could have been a bitter childhood. Thank him for all the love he would have otherwise missed. Shotaro wanted to tell him about all the things that had happened since then, some which he was sure his brother wouldn't have approved of, like getting involved in battles and getting hurt, but he would have stood by his baby brother anyway. Perhaps even helped as well.

In the end, the one thing Shotaro wished for was … Shotaro clasped his hands together, the picture squished flat in between them and he closed his eyes in prayer format.

'_Aniki, thank you for giving me my life.'_

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><p><strong>And thus, this story comes to an end. Thank you for bearing with me! I hope you enjoyed reading the story and my idea on why Shotaro never talked about his own family. I'm back off to Prince of Tennis now, but I maybe back to do more Kamen Rider in the future, depending on whether I get any good ideas.<strong>_  
><em>


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